


But The Tigers Come At Night

by unbelievably62



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25081426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbelievably62/pseuds/unbelievably62
Summary: When Glimmer is rudely awoken by a nightmare, Bow is there to see her through. Conversations are had, and resolutions are made.
Relationships: Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63





	But The Tigers Come At Night

**Author's Note:**

> (long author's note warning! haha)
> 
> hello!! this is my first ever work so please forgive me if there are any errors / the writing is just kind of weird in general! i just wanted to show my appreciation for all the wonderful content that this nice little glow/glimbow fandom has given me, so i decided to create some of my own!! 
> 
> i love these characters and their relationship so much, it always fills me with such good feelings :)) i was very struck by the little episode that we saw glimmer go through in "Save The Cat", and i read some amazing work here about glimmer dealing with her traumas, and i wanted to add my little two cents to that! i think this topic isn't really explored in the show, but i'm personally very interested in this subject matter so it got me thinking a lot and this is the result of that! also i wasn't really sure where psychology / therapy stands in the she-ra universe so i just...made my own assumptions haha let me know what you think!! 
> 
> content warning (please let me know if i'm doing this wrong / right!! i want to make sure i continue to help make this a safe space for all): brief description of symptoms similar to panic attacks (although it's not as severe as a panic attack) 
> 
> title comes from "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables

Glimmer wakes with a start, and all she can see is blackness. Her heart is racing, her palms are sweaty, and it's so hard to breathe. She can't see anything. Instinctively, she summons a small ball of light, throwing it to suspend it in the air and lighting up her surroundings.

Her room. She's in her room, the sheets twisted around her body. She hears a rustle behind her on the bed. 

"Glimmer? Are you okay?" comes Bow's voice, soft and gentle with concern and sleep. 

She quickly turns around, coming face to face with a set of deep brown eyes gazing at her worriedly. Brown. Not green. 

A strangled "Bow-" is all she can manage before she launches herself at him, wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she can. She presses her forehead against his chest, eyes screwed shut. She tries to focus on the softness of his pajama top against her face. The steady rise and fall of his chest. The warmth of his body against hers. She feels his arms hold her just as tightly.

And that's when the tears fall.

A tear rolls down her cheek, and then she's crying and she can't stop. 

Bow hears her sobs, feels her shoulders shaking and pulls her even closer to him, until they are pressed together from head to toe. His heart aches seeing her like this. He never likes to see anyone he loves in pain. And Glimmer is the person he loves the most. Just like all the times before, he gently strokes her back with one hand while the other cradles her head, carefully carding through her hair. He nuzzles the top of her head, squeezing his eyes tight and focusing on transmitting all the calm, all the love and all the care he possibly could. He knows that at this point, nothing else he says or does will get through to her.

He thought the days of her waking up in the middle of night from nightmares about her time on Horde Prime's ship were over. It's been a few months since the war ended, and nearly two months since a similar episode had occurred. He thought they were over, but evidently they weren't. 

Eventually, after who knows how long, he feels the tears stop, and hears her breathing unevenly, trying to get it back under control. And the next few words come so naturally to him.

"Okay breathe with me."

He leads her through the breathing exercise he had come across when he was researching how to help her with the recurring nightmares. Slowly, her breathing evens out and he hears her sigh. 

Head still buried in his chest, she murmurs something he can't hear and then disappears in a cloud of sparkles. He doesn't worry, knows that she's just gone to the bathroom to clean her face and grab some extra tissues like she always does. He knows she'll return soon. 

Sure enough, a few minutes later she reappears on the bed with a few tissues in one hand and a bundle of cloth in the other. 

"Here," she says, her voice soft, holding the bundle of cloth out to him. 

"What's this?" he asks as he takes it from her. 

"An extra pajama top. I realized I should probably stop letting you go back to sleep drenched in my tears. Don't want you to get hypothermia or whatever, you know?"

Bow can't help but chuckle softly at that, tickled by his girlfriend's penchant for the overdramatic. She must be feeling a bit better if she can joke around. 

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," she replies, a small smile appearing on her face as she huffs slightly at his obvious amusement. She settles back down on the bed, drawing the duvet up beneath her arms as he changes his top and carefully folds the old one neatly, placing it on his bedside table. And then he too settles back down on the bed, turning to face her. 

He reaches out to gently cup her face and she closes her eyes, sighing as she lifts her hand and presses his hand against her cheek. As his thumb makes soft arcs across her cheek, he asks softly, "Do you want to talk about it?" 

She sighs again. However, this time a furrow appears between her brows.

"Hey, it's okay. Like I always say, you don't have to talk about it until you're ready. Or if you don't want to talk about it at all then that's fine too. I won't force you to talk about something you don't want to." And it's true. Sometimes she feels like she needs to get everything off her chest, and other times she barely even remembers what she saw in her dreams, and just wants a good, long cuddle. And no matter what she chooses, Bow is always there for her. 

"I had a dream," she finally says, opening her eyes.

"And in the dream you were...you were-" A tortured look crosses her face. "You were chipped. By Horde Prime. And- and I was fighting you, trying to snap you out of it. And- but- it was too late. Your system had fused with the hive mind and I couldn't do it, no matter what I tried. I ran out of magic and then I was on the ground and you were coming towards me. And I tried to shout but you couldn't hear and- and- and then I woke up." 

She breaks eye contact with him, and looks down. "It was horrible, Bow." 

"I can only imagine." The hand that was on her cheek slowly makes its way down to her shoulder, then down her arm to grab hold of the hand currently picking at the threads on the pillow case. 

"But I'm here now. I'll always be here, as far as I'm able to. As long we are together, we'll keep each other safe. I promise that."

"I know. Me too."

She finally looks up to meet his gaze again, and feels herself melt at the care shining through his beautiful eyes. Her beautiful Bow. Her strong, patient, loving Bow. Her safe place. The longer she looks at him, the longer she thinks about his words, the further away her nightmare seems to her. 

Because she knows that what he said is true. They're stronger together as a team, and they'll always be there to have the other person's back. They've both grown so much from the events of the war, from the Heart of Etheria fiasco. They've both learnt to communicate with each other better, she's learnt to give him space when he needs it, and he's learnt to place himself in her shoes better. They can trust each other even more strongly now. They can make it through whatever life throws in their way.

She leans forward to press her forehead against his.

"I love you," she sighs.

"I love you too," he replies gently.

She feels him nuzzle her nose with his, and her lips break into a small smile as she feels the last vestiges of fear from her nightmare dissipate completely. A mischievous grin then takes over her face.

"I love you three."

"I love you four."

She giggles, pressing her lips to his in a long, lingering kiss to get him to stop. He feels her smile into the kiss, and can't help smiling too. When they break apart, they both settle back down onto the pillows. 

"Feeling better?" he asks. 

"Yeah, thank you. You're wonderful." She smiles at him, and then her face rearranges itself into a more serious expression. 

"Actually, I think this is a good time to bring up something I've been thinking about."

"Mmhmm?" 

"I've been...I've been thinking of seeing someone. Someone who can...I don't know. Help me work through these nightmares? You're wonderful, of course, and you are so good at it, but I can't help thinking that the fact that they keep happening repeatedly isn't right. It isn't normal for me to keep having these really intense nightmares. It must mean that I'm still really affected, somehow, by the war and what happened on the ship. Even though it's been months. And I thought I was over it these last two months because I hadn't had a nightmare. Until tonight, that is."

"I was just thinking the same thing."

She smiles sadly at him, and he squeezes her hand gently, encouraging her to continue.

"And well, there's another thing I think this person could help with."

"Oh?"

"My mom. I mean, I realized that I never really had time to...mourn...or grieve...or anything like that? Especially since I basically forced everyone to skip a funeral and jump straight to a coronation so I could keep leading the Rebellion and not let it ruin our progress in the war. But that's probably not good, isn't it? It isn't normal to not give yourself time to feel sad about something like that, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right." Now, it's his turn to break eye contact with her as guilt fills his face. "I'm so sorry I didn't do a better job at that." 

_Oh Bow, always taking responsibility for everything._ "Hey, no, stop. I didn't mean it like that. Like I said, it was my choice. You were nothing but supportive during that time, and I really appreciate it, okay?" Now it's her turn to give his hand a squeeze, and she brings her other hand up so she can clasp his hand with both of hers. He looks up at her again and a small smile of relief appears as he sees the honesty in her eyes. 

"Anyway, let's be real," she continued. "I probably would have steamrolled over you if you had suggested anything otherwise during that time." She chuckles, relief flooding her as she sees Bow chuckle along with her. 

"True. Anyway, I think it's a good idea."

"Yeah?"

"Mmhmm." He nods. "I think it's a great idea. Actually, now that you brought this up, I think I should see someone to help me too."

"What? But you're...I mean you're fine! I'm the one here with the messed up scary dreams and- and- mommy issues. You're so okay compared to me."

"But I mean...we've both been through a war. We've both been in a war our whole lives, if you think about it. Surely being brought up in a really stressful situation has its negative effects, even if they're not as apparent as yours?" 

"Oh, right. I guess I never thought about it that way before."

Glimmer falls silent, as Bow notices a familiar expression cross her face.

"Hey, you've got your thinking face on. What's on your mind?"

"Just...what you said about everyone having been brought up in a war."

Realization dawns upon him. "Ah, Queen thoughts?"

She chuckles at the phrase that they'd both coined together a while back. "Queen thoughts," she confirms. "We should probably have some programme or- or- initiative for the people of Etheria. Some kind of easily accessible help in this area."

"Yeah, that's a great idea actually. A lot of people probably don't even realize that they could benefit from this kind of help."

"Yeah, you're right." And then another thought enters her mind and she groans, flopping over to lie on her back. "Oh, but where would we even start? I don't even know how to go about looking for someone who could help us, let alone the entire planet."

"Okay, okay, let's think about this another time. Besides, it's late and we should probably go back to sleep soon."

"Right."

He leans up to place a hand on her shoulder that is further from him and pulls her gently over to face him again. "Why not tomorrow, we start with asking Perfuma or the healer if they know anyone? I'm sure they must have some idea. And then from there we'll take it one step at a time." He gently strokes up and down her upper arm. She smiles.

"Yeah, sounds good." She nods and closes her eyes briefly, before opening them again. "Thank you. Again."

He settles to lie down properly again. "You're very welcome, Your Majesty."

She sighs. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Bow." She lifts her hand to place it on his waist.

"Well, I'm sure you'd figure it out anyway. You're really smart, you know?" He chuckles, and her eyes crinkle with a smile. "Besides, I plan on being with you every step of the way." 

"Me too."

They both fall silent again, just basking in the warmth of each other, the love they can feel radiating from each other. How they both feel so safe in each others' arms. Until Glimmer lets out a huge yawn. 

"Okay, time to go to sleep, Your Majesty."

She laughs. "Yeah."

They both rearrange themselves so they're comfortably snuggled together, and then Glimmer extinguishes the glow of the light. 

Bow feels his eyes drifting closed when he hears a sleepy, muffled, "I love you. I love you."

He smiles, and cuddles Glimmer closer, kissing her hair. "I love you too."

They both sleep peacefully through the rest of the night.


End file.
